Goal! But No Celebration

2/13/2013 3:08AM

Celebrating a goal has become its own branch of performance art on the soccer pitch. But why are some athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin Van Persie cutting down on high jinks? WSJ's Joshua Robinson explains this change. Photo: Getty Images

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... the the ... is the basis for all its fullness fell ... so many useful skills against his old club ... in this case that's the right to it ... this is all good until it that it's silly it also Robinson has been looking at ... but none celebrations celebration ... I mean what is this a lot of upgrades of ... twelve players makes it to be this way out of the out of the celebrations after the score unit there's the famous ones is marginally dancing at the World Cup is more about silly picking up the shirt to show them why always me ... do we even had that Icelandic YouTube ... seem a bit ... Courtenay to ... entice overseas for all eleven players ... so if it's just that and do nothing out of the ... sort of goal than a really ... bad I think on shots exactly but you know the players will tell you that it's also show perspective that the former fans in ... the team that they're helping to sink how did all stock ... and did the original and most famous one is a pro in nineteen seventy four when ... Denis law that man United legend was playing for man City and actually scored a goal to really get it man United ... I feel very sorry for that ... the the the the the sport today is the the sport so is this just a football ... well that you see it in bits and pieces no this was a really belongs soccer ... ok but is this really just another form of its agency because they stand up to so much as buses as they were ... just as you said de ... um Henson's about its ... exactly and I spoke to a couple sports psychologists and social psychologists to say that ... we see the same thing in primates for it ... the ... lesser males are ... less dominant ones need to sing sing and dance and all that ... and the really dumb ones can afford to be very ... calm cool